06/06/2006

INDONESIA: Sant'Egidio Community Opens Kitchen For Quake Victims Not Reached By Aid

The Sant'Egidio community in Indonesia opened a public kitchen in an isolated area that was affected by the recent earthquake on Java but passed over by aid operations.

About 50 university students and other Sant'Egidio members from Jakarta and Yogyakarta reached the hamlet of Jali in Gayamharjo, about 25 kilometers east of Yogyakarta, on the afternoon of May 27.

They responded to a request from Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo of Semarang to help quake victims that other relief operations did not reach. In Jali the volunteers distributed tents, medicine, used clothing, blankets and snacks, besides opening the public kitchen.

The Community of Sant'Egidio began in Rome in 1968. The Church-recognized lay movement claims more than 50,000 members in more than 70 countries.

The major earthquake that hit the Yogyakarta-Central Java area early May 27 morning flattened homes and killed about 6,000 people, according to news sources. The affected area is about 400 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, and 90 kilometers south of Semarang, the capital of Central Java. It is in the territory of Semarang archdiocese.

St. Mary Mother of Christ Parish, based in Wedi, serves Jali, a predominantly Catholic hamlet. "But we are not here because of the majority Catholics. From here we can reach other untouched hamlets," Evelin Minarko, 40, a Sant'Egidio member, told UCA News June 1.

She said the public kitchen was not only for Catholic victims, "but for non-Catholics living in more isolated areas." The Jakarta woman added that based on surveys made by male volunteers, their service is now reaching those areas.

With the help of local housewives, the lay group provides about 1,400 boxes of food daily for the people, who are busy clearing the rubble from damaged or destroyed houses. The food includes rice and local dishes. "We specifically involve housewives because they know the local food better,"

she said.

According to Minarko, her organization's presence shows solidarity with the people as well as concern for them. "We want to express our solidarity with action," she said. For the name of their relief outpost, she added, they use "just Komunitas Sant'Egidio, to identify that we are a legal group."

John Bheo Rea said the organization raised funds and collected aid materials from group members in various cities. "But what we actually want to share with the affected people is not merely food aid but 'heart aid.' That is why we stay here -- not only to distribute aid but to share and discuss with them, hear their repeated sighs, establish brotherhood, be their brothers and sisters," he explained.

The student of Catholic University of Sanata Dharma in Yogyakarta said the organization would stay as long as their presence was needed. "But we hope to communicate with them as long as possible in order to nurture the seeds of brotherhood we have planted," he added.

He clarified that the Community of Sant'Egidio would not promise to rebuild their houses, "but help them with small things other people do not do."